The map descriptions in McMaster's rare maps database use a style of carto-bibliographic citation in which the title, imprint and any other information is transcribed directly from the face of the map. The cartographer's use of upper and lower case is preserved.

Line breaks in the title cartouche are indicated by a single slash (/).

A double slash (//) indicates that the information following is transcribed from another place on the map (not continuous with the title or cartouche).

Square brackets [ ] indicate that the information is not found on the map itself, but has been supplied from another source.

This style of bibliographic description enables a researcher to identify different states or different editions of maps, because sometimes the differences between reprinted maps can be as small as a few words or letters or a change in punctation in the title.

All maps in our collection are printed maps, unless they display one of the following icons:

 Manuscript map

  Map in a book

  Map in an atlas

Where another description of the map has been found, the source has been included in the notes that begin "Described in..." A bibliography of citations to reference sources is linked to these notes. These are only some known sources of description, and do not represent all possible existing descriptions for our maps.

We would welcome any additional information or corrections to this information (mapref@mcmaster.ca).